1 files changed, 1 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/poi/ddf/EscherComplexProperty.java b/src/java/org/apache/poi/ddf/EscherComplexProperty.java
index 3649d98f06..9c97ec0448 100644
--- a/src/java/org/apache/poi/ddf/EscherComplexProperty.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/poi/ddf/EscherComplexProperty.java
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ public class EscherComplexProperty extends EscherProperty {
         if (this == o) {
             return true;
         }
-        if (!(o instanceof EscherComplexProperty)) {
+        if (o == null || !(o instanceof EscherComplexProperty)) {
             return false;
         }